Sherry is Sherry. There is no phrase that better summarizes what the 40 years of history of the Andalusian route have taught us. And one of the reasons why Jerez is Jerez, beyond the pilgrimage of hundreds of thousands of people to the south, is because it is a technical, complex track where the driver still has a lot of weight, and where the weather is so variable that in minutes everything changes.
We have seen precisely all this in one weekend, which has meant the return of the championship to Europe and also the return to the top for Ducati, which has taken the two victories at stake. Of course, despite this, Aprilia remains the most competitive motorcycle at the moment.
Marc allies himself with the rain and wins after falling to the ground “at the right moment”
After getting his first pole of the season, Marc Márquez knew that his brother Álex had the best pace. So with the clouds lurking and some loose drops already falling, a Sprint started, which was even more intense than normal. And for the first time in the history of this format, the time has come to change motorcycles.
Until then, Álex was on his way to victory, but the rain increased and the controversial and decisive moment arrived. Marc crashed in the last corner, prevented his GP26 from stopping and when he resumed driving, he crossed the track to enter the pitlane directly to change bikes.
TO THE GROUND @marcmarquez93…
AND CHANGE OF MOTORCYCLE 💥💥💥#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/OK2Mz6MKZ0
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) April 25, 2026
A controversial maneuver, for many illegal, but which had no consequences for the 93. The reality is that, with the Race Direction guidelines in hand, it was not sanctionable, since the only line that was specifically marked in the briefing that could not be crossed was the one inside the pit-lane itself. Since that did not happen and Marc entered the pit before the “timing point” (the speed line) at the maximum indicated speed, in addition to not putting anyone at risk, Race Direction did not see anything punishable in the action. Another question is whether or not, going forward, this should be specified more clearly in the regulation.
Lots of #MotoGP fans still wanting clarification re MM93’s controversial pit entry during the sprint. This is rule 1.18.17, concerning flag-to-flag bike swaps: «The rider must enter pit lane, crossing the designated pit lane entry timing point, with their machine to make the… pic.twitter.com/0YhrrR68sA
— Mat Oxley (@matoxley) April 26, 2026
Bagnaia, Morbidelli and Binder also did it at that time, but without falling. And meanwhile, Álex Márquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio endured one more lap in the downpour. But slicks, dry asphalt and good pace is a combination that ends in a crash, and that’s what happened to Álex. From behind, already with rain tires, Bagnaia took the lead and, shortly after, succumbed to Marc who achieved an important and at the same time controversial victory. Third place went to Morbidelli, who played his cards better than anyone else and received a small reward in a difficult year for the Italian.
Binder, Di Giannantonio, Raúl Fernández, Fabio Quartararo and Luca Marini managed to close the top 9 and score points in the midst of chaos. While the two official Aprilias had been shipwrecked with brake problems for Martín, before the rain, and a fall for Bezzecchi, already in the wet and after a disastrous start when he stepped on a helmet screen protector. Acosta also had problems maintaining the pace, and thanks to this he closed on Saturday with the hope of a possible comeback for Marc in the championship.
The Márquez repeat their performance in Jerez in 2025: Álex wins and Marc falls
After the intensity of Saturday on Sunday, with the Grand Prix it was expected that everything would be calmer and in a way it was. Marc took the lead, but Álex soon overtook him and shortly after, before the end of the second lap, the eldest Márquez ended up on the ground.
TO THE FLOOR MARC MÁRQUEZ! 🤯
He was running second behind his brother… AND HE ENDED UP IN THE GRAVEL ON THE SECOND LAP! 😯#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/E96NZKzj1h
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) April 26, 2026
A fall that sets alarm bells ringing, as Marc himself recognized that things are not going well, referring to the fact that he is not riding in the best way, and that he is seeking to regain his sensations. But meanwhile, what was on the track was a sublime Álex, setting a pace that no one could follow, opening a gap with Bezzecchi and achieving a valuable victory that mitigated, in part, the start to the season that the Gresini driver was having.
Behind him was Marco Bezzecchi who tried at the start of the race but couldn’t keep up and decided what from the outside seems the most sensible when thinking about the championship: not to make mistakes and add as many points as possible every day. Taking into account the falls in the Sprint, Marco is leading the world championship almost exclusively with Sunday’s points, from which he is taking a lot of advantage.
The podium was closed by Fabio Di Giannantonio who, although it seemed like he could chase Marco halfway through the race, in the final part he was left rolling in no man’s land between Bezzecchi and Martín. In any case, Fabio continues in “ant” mode and thanks to this he reaches third place overall. Meanwhile, Martín was not able to repeat the result of previous GPs in Jerez, but he was able to minimize damage and lose as few points as possible against his teammate. And the World Cup is long…
It may seem that Aprilia has not been as competitive this weekend by not taking the victory, but in addition to Bezzecchi’s podium and Martín’s fourth position, Ogura and Fernández finished fifth and sixth, meaning that all four of Noale’s bikes were in the top six.
HE HAS DONE IT AGAIN ❤️ GREETING AT GRANDSON-PELUQUI ON THE LAST LAP 🥹@alexmarquez73 win in Jerez… AND THIS IS ALREADY MOTORCYCLE HERITAGE 🔥#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/vgseEJTzss
— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) April 26, 2026
The one who took gold from his possibilities on Sunday was Johann Zarco. The Frenchman, one of the drivers most critical of Márquez’s action on Saturday, crossed the finish line seventh after spending much of the race fifth. Even so, she was able to “get rid” of an Enea Bastianini who spent the entire race coming back and was the best KTM. Fermín Aldeguer, still very affected by the injury, managed to be ninth ahead of Pedro Acosta who ended up without part of the fairing after a contact with Raúl Fernández.
This weekend was not the best for Honda, because apart from Zarco’s result, Marini and Mir could only fight with the Yamahas to get some points. The same thing but in reverse happened to the Yamaha riders, with Fabio Quartararo in fourteenth and scoring a single point.
It will be necessary to see if the tests this Monday at the Jerez-Ángel Nieto Circuit itself help the Japanese brands and also Ducati and KTM to get closer to Aprilia. And the thing is, as if it were not what we want, we are already almost a fifth of the way through the season and there are beginning to be patterns that clearly point to Noale, Bezzecchi and Martín to win the title.
